Christian Shelves

I admit that it's been a while since I've read a Christian YA book, but am I ever thankful that Ashley Al Saliby reached out and let me know about her most recent book, My Refuge: Four Girls from Around the World, Imprisoned by Circumstances but Pursued by Hope , the first in the Follow in the Dark series. Not only is the cover stunning, but I am so touched by the ministry possibilities behind this book. I am grateful to the author for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Book Synopsis Christian fiction for teen girls learning to follow Jesus in a broken world. Four girls face the hardships of isolation in remote corners of the planet. Their journeys will be messy, of course. One of them will struggle with growing anger, and another with crippling anxiety. One will drift toward despair. Another will battle surprising temptation. While facing challenges they wouldn’t have chosen, what refuge can they seek? What hope can they cling to? No...

This book is another one of those cases where I'm not sure why I felt prompted to pick it up, but I'm grateful that I did. Made Well: Finding Wholeness in the Everyday Sacred Moments  by Jenny Simmons is a memoir that came at just the right time in my life. What's even lovelier is that I knew of the band that she was in, but that I didn't associate her name with it until many chapters into the book. Book Synopsis Finding Wholeness through Tears, Joys, and the Everyday From the woman fighting cancer to the man who has lost his child to the girl sinking into depression, so many of us are engaged in daily battles as we long for healing. When he walked the earth, Jesus said to an unwell man, "Do you want to be made well?" His invitation stretched beyond physical healing--he sought to restore the soul. The same invitation stands for us today. For anyone struggling on the journey toward wholeness, singer/songwriter Jenny Simmons offers a resting place and a friend a...

Inspired by a post I shared earlier this year regarding the ratio of male to female Christian authors , I was grateful that a male Christian author, Tim Bishop , reached out to me to see if I would be interested in reviewing his book called The Persistent Road . I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to hear about this title as I wouldn't have come across it otherwise. As such, I am grateful to the author for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Book Synopsis There’s always an escape. Sometimes you need to search long and hard for the right one. After losing all he once cherished, Doug Zimmer follows his wife’s parting bread crumbs and rides up the Pacific coast—on a bicycle. Armed with a revolver and only a vague plan to get through the months ahead, he aims to end his depression one way or the other. As spiritual forces wrangle for his soul, he pedals eastward across America. He meets Lauren Baumgartner—a younger adventurer with a vibr...

The accuracy of ratings is something I've been thinking about for some time as I've finally started adding to my bookshelves on  Goodreads ; it's still an ongoing task! This project has taken me longer than expected, especially as Goodreads doesn't allow for half stars, whereas I have that option on  LibraryThing . As I've added books, I've had to take my best guess on which direction I should move – up or down. In the midst of this process, I started wondering if my ratings were fully accurate as to how I might rate books today. I realized that these ratings serve as more of a snapshot in time than a complete representation of the book's content. This led me to ponder the following things: How often should I change ratings? Is it okay that I change them? What if I can't when it's in a static format (e.g. image)? Has my criteria for rating books changed over time? When I receive new information that affects how I look at a book, should I reread it to...

In the spirit of university students taking a Reading Week this week, I'll be taking a short break from blogging and posting content. Not only do I have my own reading to do for work, I also want to catch up on some ARCs and books that have patiently been waiting for me. Here's a fun fact I learnt when I looked into Reading Week a bit more: "For post-secondary institutions in anglophone Canada, it is common to have "reading week" or "mid-term break" during the third week of February, coinciding with Family Day." Source: Revision Week I'm happy that I can have my own Reading Week! I'd love to do this more often, although it might lose its meaning if I turned every week into one 😂

If you're looking for a book that evaluates social justice from the lens of the Bible, I heartily recommend Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice: An Urgent Appeal to Fellow Christians in a Time of Social Crisis by Scott David Allen. It's an outstanding look at how Christians can better understand the origins of the social justice movement and its ideology while comparing it to God's heart for the nations, His definition of justice as found in Scripture, and what it means for Christians to care for the least of these ( Matthew 25:31-46 ). I love that this book isn't afraid to examine critical race theory and critical social theory and get into the weeds of explaining the differences between communitive justice and distributive justice, amongst other terminology and concepts. The author does an excellent job of highlighting why regarding humanity through the sole lens of a power struggle between oppressor and oppressed is ultimately destructive, and how Christians ...

Essentially, I'm doing a bit of a do-over with my book choices for  The Well-Read Reading Challenge  this year, which prompted me to find a debut book from some newer-to-me authors. As soon as I read the premise for The Isaac Project by Sarah Monzon , I was hooked! A modern day Isaac and Rebekah story? Faithful commitment to Christ and each other within an arranged marriage? Count me in! Book Synopsis Becky Sawyer’s life unravels in a single day. Not only does she catch her boyfriend, the man she hoped to marry, lip-locked with another woman, she also receives the gut-wrenching news that her grandfather, the man who raised her, is dying. His last wish? To see her happily married. Heartbroken, Becky seeks inspiration in the pages of the Holy Scriptures. And finds it in the story of Isaac and Rebekah. If love couldn't keep his parents together, Luke Masterson wonders what will make a marriage last. He decides to steer clear of all women—especially crazy ones like Becky Sawyer, ...

Having listened to Alisa Childers ' podcast over the years, I really enjoyed "chewing" my way through her debut book, Another Gospel? A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity . It's taken me so long that she's now onto her third book! 😂 Book Synopsis A Movement Seeks to Redefine Christianity. Some Think that It Is a Much-Needed Progressive Reformation. Others Believe that It Is an Attack on Historic Christianity. Alisa Childers never thought she would question her Christian faith. She was raised in a Christian home, where she had seen her mom and dad feed the hungry, clothe the homeless, and love the outcast. She had witnessed God at work and then had dedicated her own life to leading worship, as part of the popular Christian band ZOEgirl. All that was deeply challenged when she met a progressive pastor, who called himself a hopeful agnostic. Another Gospel? describes the intellectual journey Alisa took over several years as she wr...

I had the opportunity to read Saving the CEO when it first came out and really enjoyed this new series from Liwen Y. Ho . After reading Devin Kendall's story, I've been waiting to read more about his identical twin, Jace Kendall, in Rescuing the Rock Star . I am grateful to the author for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Book Synopsis It’s time for this rock star to settle down … Fame, fortune, and fans—Jace Kendall has it all. Yet, he still feels like something is missing from his life. After the thrill of success starts to wane, he runs into his first love who left him without a word a decade ago. To his surprise, she mistakes him for his twin brother, an assumption he doesn’t correct for fear that she might disappear again. If Leah Parker wasn’t so desperate, she wouldn’t have befriended the brother of the man she once had a summer fling with. She’d never wanted to hinder Jace’s future, which is why she stopped contacting him whe...

Ever since I started blogging and sharing content on Instagram , God has been transforming my reading and, more importantly, my mind and heart. While aspects of this journey have been sobering and on the more serious side, I wanted to focus on what has been positive for me and what has brought me joy. “Comparison is the thief of joy.”  - Theodore Roosevelt ( source ) I thought I'd share this quote at the onset because I can see how true this is on social media and in life. It's easy to get discouraged at seeing what other people are doing and how we stack up. For me, I've had to tune out some of the noise that comes from other people and their successes. It's not to say that I don't celebrate other people's victories, but I can see how if I am too fixated on it, it can lead me to feeling like a failure. Avoiding comparison where I can has been instrumental in allowing me to focus on joy and contentment instead. "But godliness with contentment is great gain....

In light of Lunar New Year taking place tomorrow, I was thinking about which book was quite formative in my Christian faith from a cultural perspective. Without a doubt, it was Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents , written by an Asian American team with broad voices and experiences covering a range of topics from familial relations to performative pressure to racial reconciliation. If you're interested in reading more about my personal experiences, I've  shared before  why this book was so pivotal to me and how it allowed me to appreciate the ethnicity that God has given me while learning how to follow Him. Regarding the book and how its title may seem geared toward youth or young adults, I would say that this is a helpful resource for those who are older as well. I have given this book as a gift to those much older than me, which is a testament to how enduring its messages are. Furthermore, a lot of the topics covered remain useful to revisit, especially around w...

It seems that I opened up a can of worms with a story I shared yesterday regarding how I felt inundated by stories and posts featuring LDS authors on Christian Bookstagram. Since it's difficult to share on stories (IG has been quite glitchy for me recently), I'll share more here for context. Please don't read this if the topic isn't of interest to you or if you don't care too much about the theological background of the authors you're reading; that's absolutely fine with me if you don't read on 😀 Let me start off by saying that it's hard to convey things in a one-page story. I prayed that I would choose the words that would matter to summarize my thoughts, while acknowledging that they are imperfect and incomplete. If you met me in real life, you'd know that I'm fairly unassuming, very soft-spoken, and reticent to stir up controversy. I can see why people feel a little bit more bold online. That being said, I wrote this with a heart of conce...

At the pace I'm going, I might just finish the  Heroes of Freedom Ridge  series this year! Friends with the Hero  was my first introduction to Jessie Gussman, and I look forward to her next book in the series. Book Synopsis Can a chance encounter with a former childhood best friend be the start of a beautiful romance? When volunteer firefighter Frank “Tuck” Tucker responds to a false alarm in the middle of the night at the new bake shop in town, he doesn’t expect to come face to face with his childhood best friend. In her nightgown no less. He also didn’t expect to get hired as her new assistant. But that happened, too. Along with an odd tingling in his hand when they shook that didn’t used to be there when they dug for crawfish down by the creek. But he needs a job and hers was the only place in town hiring. She didn’t seem to care that his former career as a smoke jumper didn’t provide much experience in baking cakes. Patience Martel isn’t sure what caused her smoke ala...

Many thanks to Revell Books  and LibraryThing for providing a complimentary copy of  The Story of Your Home  by Courtney Warren for review consideration. All opinions are my own. Book Thoughts content is also posted on LibraryThing. Book Synopsis Create a space you'll love (that everyone can live with) Your home is where you make memories, build relationships, and find sanctuary, so it should tell your story. Full of practical action items and bursting with unique and inspiring photos, The Story of Your Home is your guide to creating a space that reflects the personality and purpose of the people who live there. With the help of interior designer Courtney Warren and her StyleSense Design Quiz, you'll start by determining the heart behind your home and the story you want to tell through it. She'll guide you through your house, one room at a time, providing tools to stretch you beyond mere aesthetics to the true essence of how you live and what you want your...

I'm so happy to finish a series as I feel like I've been such a slow reader recently and am only starting things or am partway through. Now I can say that I have experienced the full Skymar effect! Loyally, Luke was such an adventure, and it also met one of the prompts for the  Clearly Christian Readathon  from Galatians 5:22-23, where self-control as a fruit of the Holy Spirit is exhibited throughout the book. I am grateful to the author for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Book Synopsis Sometimes love means embracing the good, the bad. . . and even the impossible. Dear Reader -- My name is Luke Edgewood, and there are few things in life that I require. Mainly black coffee. And flannel. And lots of solitude. And my dogs, Chewy and Indie. What I don't need is romance, so I have no plans to change my thirty-year-old bachelor status anytime soon. But my youngest sister thinks that by accepting a short-term construction job in the ...

One of the things I've appreciated about being more picky with my reading is that I have a little bit more self-control in purchasing books now. I'll admit that up until most recently, I was pretty indiscriminate in purchasing Christian books simply by virtue of it being Christian, even if I had never heard of the author before or had only seen a picture of the book online. However, in the past few months, I've enjoyed getting to exercise more discernment in what books I choose to pick up. This has resulted in an unofficial book buying ban without me fully realizing it at the time. While there were a few books that I picked up a few weeks before Christmas, I've largely gone without getting additional books since then. Part of this is because I can wait a long time for sales to appear! The other part is that I'm trying to pick better books for my home library knowing how many books I might have to part ways with over time. This had me thinking about which books I wou...

Can you tell that I really enjoy reading theology books? 😀 Across the Spectrum is one of the most helpful books I've found in helping me to understand the different viewpoints of Christians on all manner of topics. Now in its third edition, I think this volume is still one of the most concise yet dense books out there that lays out the arguments for opposing sides along with objections for each stance. The authors cover everything from Calvinism and Arminianism to charismatic gifts to women in ministry and beyond, so there is no shortage of opposing views. I would say this book is an introduction to understanding these debated matters, but with enough information to get readers started if there is a topic that is weighing heavily on their heart. I appreciate that this book not only exposes me to other theological understandings, but it also shows the issues that my own understanding might pose. This was a textbook for one of my theology classes where the professor had students ch...

This week has looked a little different for me as I haven't been sharing reviews here or on Instagram . They'll be coming, but I am also welcoming the break from the pressure to finish books in time for me to post about them. While I still love reading and reviewing books, I want to go at a slower pace this year. What I thought was sustainable last year has now left me feeling a little like I've had to meet work deadlines on top of work outside of this. That's the last thing that I want to go through, as I want to keep having the capacity to blog 😀 I admit that it's been a nice reprieve from creating creative content where I can just read or write instead. I'm hopeful that February will be a nice month to recover from the busyness of January and to enjoy being in God's presence. Happy February!